Robbery suspect could be going to jail for life

EVERETT — William Darrell Goddard has been racking up criminal convictions since the early 1990s, including 15 felonies and 40 misdemeanors.

The Marysville man has cycled in and out of prison and jail most of his adult life. Goddard, 39, could be going back for good if he is convicted of the latest allegations against him.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Goddard with first-degree robbery. That would be his third strike under the state’s persistent-offender law. If he’s convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence without the chance of release.

Prosecutors allege that Goddard was part of violent robbery on Nov. 9 that left a man battered and bloodied.

Goddard and some associates went to the home of the Everett man, who was selling a guitar. It’s unclear if the meeting was a setup or if someone was serious about buying the guitar.

Witnesses said that as the man was making his sales pitch, Goddard suddenly clobbered him with a wooden cribbage board and a wrench. At the same time, Goddard allegedly yelled at a lady friend to grab the guitar. She ran outside with the instrument and jumped in a car. Meanwhile, the guitar owner was able to fight back against the attack, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Chris Dickinson wrote in charging papers.

He whacked Goddard in the head with a walking stick. That sent Goddard running for the exit. The man gave chase and caught up with the band of alleged thieves just as they were about to drive off. Someone in the group had a change of heart about stealing the guitar and handed it back to the owner.

Police officers noted that the man was bruised and cut from an apparent beating.

Goddard was found in Marysville and arrested. He allegedly admitted to being in a fight with the guitar owner. He denied taking part in a robbery.

Goddard was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

“The defendant soon went to work making phone calls from the jail attempting to bribe and persuade witnesses not to testify, including the victim,” Dickinson wrote.

Inmates are advised repeatedly that calls from the jail are recorded.

Goddard reportedly acknowledged in some of the telephone calls that he is facing his third strike, court papers said.

“The defendant is correct,” Dickinson wrote.

Goddard earned his first strike in 1994 for a second-degree robbery conviction. He accumulated numerous other felony convictions in the years that followed. His second strike came in 2004. A Skagit County judge sentenced him to seven years in prison for second-degree assault. Goddard served about 4½ years, court papers say.

A couple of drug convictions landed him behind bars in 2011 and again last year.

A Snohomish County Superior Court judge on Wednesday signed an order holding Goddard on $500,000 bail for the robbery charge. He likely will be arraigned in coming days.